Birkierunner's group - CLOSED (Page 12)

I had serious nutrition problems in my Ironman.  I was using gels on the bike and I used Endurex R4 in my bottle.  All of which was fine up to abut 8 hours in the race, then it was all just way too concentrated.  By mile 80 or 90 on the bike I could only drink water.  My stomach was so bad that just the thought of putting anything else in there almost was too much.

Half way through my death march of a marathon I could drink a sip of coke and a peach slice so that was my nutrition from about mile 80 in the race on.  Not good...

I am now using Hammer Brand Perpetuem and my gels are Hammer as well. Hammer is gluten free and easy on the stomach.  Same brand as the (Hammer) Heed, but it has protein in it, which you need for the Iron distance.  I'm doubling up each bottle plus adding a gel to my water so my bottle is about 900 calories.  With no more than one gel per hour in addition the bottle Lasts me about 60 miles or so on the bike.  It seems very easy on the stomach so far and MUCH better than relying only on gels all day. 

I am in no way an expert and everybody is different but I've been experimenting with all kinds of things and so far this is the best for me.

Thanks for the very good info Mitch.  I have to admit that I am worried about having stomach issues late in the race because that does seem to be a common trait amongst even the most experienced IM participants.  Interestingly, Perpetuem was one of the drinks I was researching bc of its gluten free property.  I will be very interested in hearing how this nutrition plan will work for you at California.

Jim, thanks for the suggestions on those dvds. I wrote them down and will try to get something ordered by this weekend so I can start doing more structured workouts on the bike.

Since I'm just a sprinter so far, I don't have any experience with nutrition. I am definitely reading along, though, because who knows? I might have a half in me some day...

13 miles last night....starting to feel very lazy as I taper...although my legs felt good last night.  First time for me and feel like I am not doing enough.  Hope my legs remember all of those 20+ milers.  

May jump on the trainer for a bit today and mess with my bike setup...pool is closed.  Sprints, 5 miles, 10 miles, sprints, 3 miles, 3 miles.....marathon.  The end is near.  Then my first sprint 2 weeks after that!  

Mike, good luck with your taper! Does that mean your marathon is the weekend of the 3rd?

I'm back from a ski weekend which turned out just great. We had a snow storm roll through on Sunday, terrible conditions, but at least they were making snow and getting a few inches. Snow continued to accumulate overnight, and since Monday was a holiday, we had the greatest half-day of skiing with the whole family. I finally feel that everyone is at the skill level to allow us to plan a real ski trip out west for next winter. Yay!

Did a 10 miler last Thursday, no swim/bike/run over the weekend, then a 4 mile hill workout yesterday. Today, I want to swim, but I have work on my desk :-( I might still manage it if I get busy.

Thanks....yes, it is Sunday the 4th.  10 miles tomorrow at MP the training is pretty much over.  Now watching the weather updates 4 times a day on the extended forecast!

For Trycharleston, I got one of those cabins on campgrounds so looking forward to that as well!

Hope everyone has a great day!!

How's everyone getting along on this Monday?

It's rainy here in South Carolina, but warm-ish, so I went for a nice, drizzly run this a.m. followed by 2k yards in the pool. My goals are swimming and running this week, working up to a long slow 12 on Saturday.

Waiting for my Spinervals DVDs to arrive before getting out on the bike. I am seriously suffering from lack of motivation in the biking department.

I started the beginner 1/2 ironman program yesterday.  So far, so good, got all my training in.  My son came home sick from school today, so I had to modify my plan for the day.  Thank goodness my husband was able to come home and take over so I could go finish up work and get a swim in.  Trying to figure out what I will have time for tomorrow.  We'll have to see how the day goes.

BTW...My son is doing fine now.  Amazing how watching TV and playing Wii all day works wonders!

Hi Jim, that race must be great. And good news on the snow - this was not the best year for it otherwise, so maybe it will finish with some good conditions in March.

Yeah, Jessica, my kids often feel better after a little couch + tv time, too. When is the HIM that you are training for? And is it a plan from BT?

I got out this am for a nice little run and then a short trainer ride after work tonight. 

@Birkie....hope the Birkie went well for you.  It looks like "up-north" is getting hit hard with at least a foot of snow tonight and into tomorrow.  That sounds pretty nice for the trails.

@jkreuzig....Good luck with the BT HIM plan!

@melanfi...I'm sure those Spinerval DVD's will get you re-motivated to bike!

glad to hear your race was good, Jim Mine was good too - what a difference from last year spectator wise!  It helps when it's warm out.

Funny how now that ski season is over (for me) we're going to be getting a bunch of snow.  I'm on day 1 of IMWI 2012 training.

Good luck on your marathon this weekend, NeverEnough!!!

Yay for it offically being tri-season!

You'll do just fine at Racine.  I raced there a couple of times before it became an official IM 70.3 event and also after it got bought out to become a 70.3.   It can be hot there, so getting ready for that will be key.  Its easy to get overwhelmed by the thought of the training that lies ahead but you just put faith in your training plan, take it one day at a time, and keep telling yourself "this is supposed to be fun!!"

People who don't ride indoors on a trainer won'g get this so I'm telling you guys: 1:45 on a trainer sucks! 

K. That's it. Thanks for listening! I feel much better now   Hope this snow melts soon!  And I hope everyone has a great weekend of training (or marathon running, Mike!)

Impressive on the 1:45.  Unfortunately you reminded me that I am doing close to the same tomorrow.  So let's just pretend it doesn't suck that much until I am done!

I was lurking on another forum and there was a woman who did a 6 hour trainer ride!!!!  Are you kidding??? I can barely make it an hour!

Agreed.  When I approach 2 hours I make sure I have a pistol close to my Computrainer so I can shoot myself in the head :-)

On the snow melting....Don't agree!!!  :-)    Went skiing for 1.25 hours today and will milk the rest of the season for all its worth!!

No kidding, 1.5 hours sounds like a looooong time for the trainer.

Hey Mike, how did your marathon go?

I hope everyone is fine this weekend and unscathed by all the terrible tornadoes. We had steady and heavy rain all day yesterday and all through the night - so my long run had to be moved to today. I will wait for my husband to get back from running before heading out myself. Luckily, that's all we have planned today, so it's a quiet and relaxed Sunday here!

Thanks for asking!

Well...I finished....so happy to have one in the books.  Everything was looking good for the first half (1:54 split)...plenty of shade, cool weather, buildings and trees blocking wind.   Started to feel my quads at 14ish....which was very weird, they never hurt.  Then around 16ish we hit lake ponchartrain and wind.  The wind and tight quads slowed me down a bunch.  I finished in 4:21:18.  I felt like I could break 4 and am not sure what happened to make my quads hurt.    It was fun....and I need to work on getting my legs stronger.  Cardio was good.....just need stronger legs.  

I learned one thing.....follow paces for your training runs to the tee.  I missed my paces on several runs and I think that was the difference.  Big take away for me....especially for the bike, I need to a power meter and I need to follow all of my training plans exactly as written.  At least I think so.

Next up....Columbia Sprint Tri!!  Time to start riding a bunch.....but first....it's miller(s) time!  

YAY MIKE!! Congrats on a great day!!  I'm glad you had a good time!  Enjoy those brews - you've earned it!

NO KIDDING!!  Did my first hour and a half trainer ride on Friday night.  Seriously boring.  I'm just glad that I have HBO, cinemax and On Demand on the TV in front of my bike.  I also have Kona on DVR that I pull out once in awhile.

Congratulations Mike! Awesome job on your first marathon! I've heard how much a race can change from the factor of wind - I've only experienced that in a 5k and can't imagine battling it for 26 miles. Did you do a race report yet?

I hope everybody who skis is enjoying all the snow! I'm a bit jealous of that.

Yesterday was my long run of 8miles at my LR pace of 11 min/mile. It was quite pretty and laid back run, except for one part:

There is an empty road in our neighborhood, just a straight paved road about a third of a mile into the woods with a turn-around at the end. Judging from the looks of it, I assume that kids park back there at night and drink beer, eat fast food, practice donuts, whatever kids do these days. Anyway, I decided to run down there and back yesterday, and when I hit the turn-around to head back, I saw that a pickup truck was heading toward me coming down the road. The guy passed me slowly, stopped at the end and just sat there. Now, I'm a little nervous being out there in the woods by myself, out of earshot of any houses, without my phone... so I sprinted that 1/3 of a mile back to the main road. I checked my Garmin stats - and I hit 7:28 min/mile, which is smoking fast for me! After that, I ran by my house to pick up my phone and turned on the GPS, just in case, lol.